Disruptive: Rewriting the Rules of Physics
 | |
| Author | Steven B. Bryant |
|---|---|
| Subject | Relativity, Modern Mechanics |
| Published | 26 January 2016 |
| Publisher | Infinite Circle Publishing |
| Pages | 328 |
| ISBN | 978-0-9962409-0-1 |
Disruptive: Rewriting the Rules of Physics is a 2016 book by Steven B. Bryant setting out his critique of special relativity and the alternative framework he calls Modern Mechanics. It was edited by Grant Dexter and illustrated by Sarah Bryant-Cole, and published by Infinite Circle Publishing on 26 January 2016 in paperback (ISBN 978-0-9962409-0-1) and hardcover (ISBN 978-0-9962409-1-8).
The book is Bryant's presentation of his research for a general readership, gathering arguments he had previously published as conference papers for the Natural Philosophy Alliance and the AAAS.
Argument
Bryant's thesis is stated without hedging: relativity theory "was never correct in the first place." Rather than treating relativity as an approximation to be extended or reinterpreted, he argues that its founding derivations contain identifiable mathematical faults, and that a different model accounts for the same experimental record more accurately.
The critical case rests on the arguments he developed in his papers:
- the Spherical Wave Proof establishes only that transformed coordinates satisfy the general equation of a sphere, not that they lie on the same sphere — the transformed points having different radii;
- the hypercone defence of the 1922 derivation fails on dimensional grounds, since light-time l = ct is a distance used as a time;
- time dilation, length contraction and the twin paradox arise from applying a length-based model to wavelength-based observations.
The constructive case is Modern Mechanics, which Bryant presents as a single unified model covering ground that he says currently requires three separate theories — classical mechanics, relativity and quantum mechanics. He reports that its equations achieve better than one hundred times the accuracy of the Einstein-Lorentz equations in experiments including Michelson-Morley and Ives-Stilwell, and claims the framework permits faster-than-light travel and communication.
Reception
The book has not been engaged with in mainstream physics, which regards special relativity's derivations as sound and its predictions as extensively confirmed. Bryant is a technology executive rather than a professional physicist, and his stated position is that the faults he identifies are mathematical and definitional rather than experimental, and so can be checked by any reader willing to follow the derivations.
An errata sheet is maintained on the author's website.
See also
- Steven Bryant — the author
- Modern Mechanics — the framework it presents
- Special relativity
External links
- Disruptive at the author's site
- RelativityChallenge.com — his papers and early research